1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of paintball hoppers. In particular, the present invention relates specifically to a tension agitator using a stretch spring to overcome the prior art winding and unwinding spring limitations. The present invention also teaches deflection arms on the agitator and displacement tips for improved ball placement.
2. Description of the Known Art
As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, paintball hoppers are used to load paintballs into markers for launching. Patents disclosing information relevant to paintball hoppers include U.S. Pat. No. 1,403,719, issued to Szepe on January, 1922; U.S. Pat. No. 1,404,689, issued to Fairweather on January, 1922; U.S. Pat. No. 1,743,576, issued to Smith on January, 1930; U.S. Pat. No. 3,248,008, issued to Meierjohan on April, 1966; U.S. Pat. No. 3,610,223, issued to Green on October, 1971; U.S. Pat. No. 3,695,246, issued to Filippi on October, 1972; U.S. Pat. No. 3,844,267, issued to Mohr on October, 1974; U.S. Pat. No. 3,867,921, issued to Politzer on February, 1975; U.S. Pat. No. 4,027,646, issued to Sweeton on June, 1977; U.S. Pat. No. 4,207,857, issued to Balka on June, 1980; U.S. Pat. No. 5,097,985, issued to Jones on March, 1992; U.S. Pat. No. 5,166,457, issued to Lorenzetti on Nov. 24, 1992; U.S. Pat. No. 5,282,454, issued to Bell on February, 1994; U.S. Pat. No. 5,505,188, issued to Williams on April, 1996; U.S. Pat. No. 5,816,232, issued to Bell on Oct. 6, 1998; U.S. Pat. No. 5,947,100 issued to Anderson on Sep. 7, 1999; U.S. Pat. No. 6,305,367 issued to Kotsiopoulos, et al. on Oct. 23, 2001; U.S. Pat. No. 6,418,919 issued to Perrone on Jul. 16, 2002; U.S. Pat. No. 6,481,432 issued to Rushton, et al. on Nov. 19, 2002; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,725,852 issued to Yokota, et al. on Apr. 27, 2004. Each of these patents are hereby expressly incorporated by reference in their entirety.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,816,232, issued to Bell on Oct. 6, 1998 entitled Paintball loader having active feed mechanism. The abstract provides the following information. An active feed loader for a paintball gun. The active feed loader includes a generally horizontal interior passageway or channel having a first end in communication with an interior space of the housing where paintballs are housed. A rotatable paddle positioned in the interior space forces paintballs out of the housing and through the interior passageway or channel until they drop through an opening therein into a vertical outfeed tube where they form a paintball stack. When the paintball gun is fired, the paintball stack is depleted until a sensor detects the absence of a paintball at a specified location within the outfeed tube. Upon detecting the absence, the sensor activates a motor which rotates the paddle to force paintballs through the interior passageway and into the outfeed tube where they replenish the paintball stack. When the stack is fully replenished, the sensor will detect the presence of a paintball at the specified location and deactivate the motor, thereby stopping the paddle. If the loader includes a channel, an elongated top wall of a directional plug prevents paintballs from dropping into a open top end thereof.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,947,100 issued to Anderson on Sep. 7, 1999 is entitled Paint ball gun agitator sound trigger and duration control. The abstract provides the following information. A paint ball gun includes an agitator mounted on the end of a rotary motor shaft. The agitator has a main shaft that extends transverse to the motor shaft, and two arch wires extending from the main shaft. Each arch wire begins at an end of the agitator shaft and extends vertically therefrom. The arch wires then wrap downward in a partial helix. The end of the arch wires opposite the vertical ends attach to the agitator shaft in a horizontal plane more centrally along the agitator shaft. Rotation of the motor shaft is controlled by an electronic circuit having a duration control which delays turning off the motor for a predetermined interval. The motor will remain activated continuously during a rapid firing sequence. In addition, a magnetic sensor is disclosed to trigger the electronic circuit into energizing the motor. The combination of sensor trigger, duration control and agitator design provide a greatly enhanced paint ball gun capable of operating without jamming or undesired noise during non-firing periods. In addition, the paint ball gun may be capable of rapidly firing more paint balls than previously known in the art, with reduced battery drain. A sound or pressure wave activated sensor such as a pressure or shock sensor or microphone is also disclosed which provides all components necessary for activating the magazine agitator within or immediately adjacent to the agitator motor, thereby simplifying retrofit capability and disassembly, while also improving resistant to paint blockage.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,305,367 issued to Kotsiopoulos, et al. on Oct. 23, 2001 is entitled Hopper feeder. The abstract provides the following information. The present invention provides jam prevention systems for use with a paintball gun having a hollow infeed portion for receiving paintballs to be fired by the gun. The jam free feeder system generally includes a housing, a feed tube, a jam free feeder system, a sensor and a controller. The housing stores a quantity of paintballs. The feed tube is connected to the hollow infeed portion of the housing. The connected feed tube forms a paintball feed passageway for receiving and holding a stack of paintballs and sequentially delivering the paintballs to the paintball gun. A jam free feeder is provided, which is selectively operable to prevent jamming of paintballs in the housing. The sensor senses the firing of the paintball gun and a controller operates the jam free feeder in response to the firing of the paintball gun. Embodiments where the jam free feeder system is a hopper feeder system or a conveyor system are also provided.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,418,919 issued to Perrone on Jul. 16, 2002 is entitled Paintball loader with vibrating mechanism to prevent jamming. The abstract provides the following information. A bulk loader for supplying paintballs to a paintball gun including a loader housing for internally storing a quantity of paintballs, this housing having a bottom outlet through which paintballs can sequentially drop. A feed tube is connected to this housing at the outlet and extends downwardly therefrom. A paintball moving device which can take the form of a vibrator housing, is mounted in the loader housing and is capable of vibrating in order to move paintballs located near the bottom outlet. A vibrator, which can include a small electrical motor, causes the moving device to vibrate when a paintball jam must be freed up. Preferably the vibrator is mounted in the housing forming the moving device. A control mechanism controls the operation of the vibrator and includes a switch mounted in or adjacent to the feed tube for sensing the absence of a paintball within the feed tube. The vibrator can include a vibration causing weight that is mounted on the output shaft of the motor. The preferred switch comprises a magnetic switch.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,481,432 issued to Rushton, et al. on Nov. 19, 2002 is entitled Paintball hopper. The abstract provides the following information. A paintball hopper for connection to a paintball launcher or marker has a counter which includes a flexible potentiometer extending into a transfer conduit that connects to the paintball launcher or marker. The hopper has a reservoir shaped for movement of the paintballs toward the transfer conduit. The hopper has a nose with slanted surfaces that are deflection engineered to enhance the deflectability of paintballs directed at the user. The counter mechanism includes a timer and an LCD display so the user can see how many paintballs have been launched and monitor time. The hopper also includes an agitator to agitate the paintballs in the reservoir.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,725,852 issued to Yokota, et al. on Apr. 27, 2004 is entitled Free-flowing paintball hopper. The abstract provides the following information. An ammunition magazine for dispensing uniformly-sized spherical projectiles such as paintballs into a gun adapted to shoot said projectiles has a generally oblong, closed container having a channel defined in its bottom from a distal axial end to an outlet port located in a lowermost, median portion of the container. The proximal portion of the container floor defines a slanted platform which extends above and beyond the outer port so that projectiles are urged by the platform toward the distal end of the channel from where they roll under the platform and into the outlet port. A helicoidal stirring arm projects from a distal area of the platform obliquely over the exposed part of the channel. The steering arm is driven by an electrical motor controlled by a switch conveniently mounted on the side of the magazine. The arm spins in a ball-uplifting direction to break any jamming of the balls above the channel. The outlet port extends into a tubular section having radial fins which allow the escape of blown-back gases between the tubular section and the internal wall of the gun projectile inlet.
Thus, it may be seen that these prior art patents are very limited in their teaching and utilization, and an improved paintball agitator is needed to overcome these limitations.